


A Dire Move

by ahunmaster



Series: Giant AU [5]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Arranged Marriage, Escape Attempt, F/M, Giant/Tiny, Giants, Kidnapping, Kings & Queens, Major Character Injury, Marriage Proposal, OCs - Freeform, Original Character(s), Princes & Princesses, Warring Kingdoms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-26 22:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5023099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahunmaster/pseuds/ahunmaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eclipse knows that she cannot stay with the Giant King forever.  She must make her way back home to prevent all-out war with her kingdom and Megatron's own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Dire Move

A month.  A whole month since she had been brought here.  No, kidnapped.  Megatron had taken her from her home a month ago and had brought her here to his castle.

 

After the emotional first week, Eclipse's anger with the king had reduced.  Not greatly, but enough for her to make a rational assessment of this mess.  A mess she desperately needed to fix soon.

 

Megatron... cared for her.  She wasn't sure whether to call it love or not, but he saw her as his equal.  And that lead to him wanting her to be his queen.  A marriage like that would bring about new opportunities and relations with Ultra Magnus's kingdom.  And with the previous marriage pact between the Giant Prince Bloodshed and the human Princess Thornstriker, the three neighboring kingdoms would be one of the strongest forces of allied nations on the continent.

 

But there was a slight problem... Specifically the fact that her youngest sister had married Prince Bloodshed.  As in just married two months ago.  And perhaps the small detail of all this being an arranged marriage that neither really had a say in was also the other troubling factor.

 

Especially when it came to her father, King Ultra Magnus.

 

God, Eclipse sighed as she slowly got out of bed and sneaked to her door.  She could only hope her father was doing well.  Her mother, Queen Charlotte, was probably a mess at this point, but at least she could mourn about it.

 

Not the king.  He had to lead his people.  He had to be strong.  He could not show weakness in such a blatant attack on his people.

 

Checking through the keyhole, she could see the guard outside her door still in her spot.  A yawn made her smile.  This was the guard who didn't pay her much attention.  Some of the others, she had found out from experimenting, would often knock or try to peek in to see if she was okay.

 

Not this young one.  No, she didn't do much except her job.  Stay there and let no one in and especially do not let her out.

 

But tonight, that was about to change.

 

Quietly walking back to bed, Eclipse moved the mattress up, putting her pillow underneath to keep it up as she reached into the center of it.  Feeling around, she quickly found the small hole she had made in it soon after she had been brought here and pushed her hand inside.

 

In a flurry of arms and sheets, blankets, and other kinds of clothes, the princess pulled out a long rope of cloth tied together from whatever she could get her hands on during the last month.

 

It hadn't been easy.  It wouldn't make sense for so many pieces of clothing to suddenly go missing in her room.  And it wasn't like she could leave either.  No, she had to be smart about it.

 

Blankets weren't a problem.  Her kingdom was a little warmer than where the Giants lived, so she was able to get away with asking for those.  Of course, asking for a few wouldn't do.  They would see if one or two were missing.

 

Eclipse felt bad for having done so, but she requested several blankets.  Dozens of them.  Not all at once, but enough that she would have a large collection of them in her room before the maids would have to come in and take them away to be cleaned.  No one would notice then that two or three were missing.

 

As for the other pieces of cloth... she merely had to dig through the room to find them.  This was obviously an unused guest room and it was obvious it had not been occupied for a while.  Still, the random clothing and silks and other random fabrics she had found proved that this had been mandated to that of a storage area.

 

Good for her.  The maids didn't bother to go through some of the older stuff, but she was careful enough to take only what wouldn't be missed. Too much and the maids would have noticed. But she had been careful, she had thought it out, no one had discovered what she had been doing.

 

And now she could finally carry out the plan she had been making since her anger with Megatron had subsided. 

 

She had made an estimated guess.  This should be more than enough to get her to the ground.  If not, she would be very close, at least.

 

After that... she didn't have the best plan, but it was a plan nonetheless.

 

Once she got to the ground, she would have to sneak out of the castle.  Just avoid the guards, get to the stables, and take one of the horses used for supplies and get out.  And if they didn't have the horses there and rather out carting something faraway at the moment... well, she would just have to make a break for the border by foot.

 

Eclipse was starting to get doubts about this plan, but it was all she had to work with.  She had to get back home.  There was no doubt in her mind that her father was preparing to do whatever possible to get her back.  Even if it meant going to war with Megatron.

 

There was no way she could let that happen.  Megatron's kingdom bordered King Bombrush's, so for her father to go to war with their allies neighbor's... it would get very messy and somehow, Eclipse didn't put it past fate's cruel intentions that her little sister wouldn't get involved in this as well.

 

Despite her feelings for the Giant King, she could not stay.  Megatron would not listen to reason at this point.  Probably not for a while...

 

Securing one end to her bed, she gave it a tug before letting it go.  Opening the window, she took one quick look around at the ground below.  No one in sight.

 

As she put the rope by the window, she quickly dressed herself in warmer clothes.  As a second thought, she pulled a few of the old earrings she had found in the room into her pocket.  She could use that to pay someone off if she needed to get to the border by some other means.  With a bag of extra clothes, Eclipse gave the courtyard one last glance before she tossed the rope out the window.

 

Okay.  So far so good.  Now she just had to climb down.

 

She could do this.  Slowly gathering her wits, Eclipse grabbed the rope and tossed a leg over the windowsill.  Then she brought the other over.

 

Eclipse had to stop herself from looking down.  It was a long way down and she didn't want to think about what would happen if she lost her grip.  Biting at her lip, the princess slowly made her way down.

 

Never had she heard her heart beating so loudly in her chest.  She thought for certain someone would hear it.  But as the ringing beat on in her ears, her shaky hands slowly climbed down, her feet pushing against the tower to help with her arms.

 

She knew she would have to look down eventually, but she needed to keep her mind focused.  If she saw the distance and panicked, she might lose her grip and fall.

 

Slowly, slowly.  One hand at a time.  Put one foot behind the other.  Breath.  Repeat.

 

Eclipse was starting to feel more confident in herself.  She could do this.  She could get out of the castle, out of King Megatron's kingdom, and get back home.  She'd either make a break for her kingdom or seek asylum in King Bombrush's kingdom.  Then she would return home and fix all this.

 

She would lie to her father, tell him she made a grievous mistake and asked Megatron to take her away.  She had already written a note for Megatron, leaving it on the side table by her bed. She promised to Megatron that she would wait for him and begged him not to come after her. She needed to calm down her father and prevent all-out war between their kingdoms and stop the bloodshed from ever happening.  

 

Once her father's wrath had been tamed, she could try to convince him to go through with the courting.  Or at least give Megatron another chance. It would be a long road for them, yes, but as long as Megatron waited and she could calm down her father, they could finally court. Properly. And then he could ask for her hand. 

 

And then, at that time, she would say yes.

 

She had been climbing for a while.  Eclipse had to turn to look down.

 

There was about a good distance between her and the ground.  Less than her window, but not enough to jump down yet.  At least there were some bags of something for her to step onto.  Not all she had to do was just get down a little more and-

 

SNAP

 

Eclipse didn't know what had snapped.  Her mind didn't even come to register that the rope of clothing and blankets had come to such a strain that it had finally given under her weight despite all the knots and reinforcing she had done.

 

All she did know in those final seconds of consciousness was that she was falling very fast and that God please let there be something soft in those-

 

xxx

 

Megatron didn't take much notice of his surroundings when he woke up that morning.  It was the same thing every day; he got up before the sun rose and got ready for the day.  He would take a quick bath, get dressed with help from his servants, and then go and eat in his private dining hall.

 

He had been used to it and getting meals brought up to him for a long time, but he was starting to hate how the loneliness of eating alone was getting to him.  Yes, he was technically being waited on by servants, but it wasn't the same.

 

Shaking his head, the king finished his breakfast and got up, letting the servants clear the table away.  He couldn't let himself be hung up over that at this time.  Even if his relationship with Princess Eclipse was still at a tense standstill, he couldn't brood over it.  He still had a kingdom to run and moping about not having Eclipse joining his for breakfast was unbecoming for someone like him.

 

But it still made his stomach a bit unsettled knowing that if he were to try to see the princess now, she would only turn him away with a cold shoulder.

 

The king had been in a conundrum.  Ever since he had taken her from her home, nothing had gone as he had hoped it would.  Well, he had expected some anger at first, but after a month... he had hoped she would have seen how much better this was.  They were together. They could finally be together...

 

Only he wasn't so sure about that anymore.

 

But as he found Shockwave standing in front of the council room, he pushed those bothersome thoughts aside.  He would have to worry about that later.

 

Right now, he was the king and he had to do his duties.

 

And so he did.  Shockwave quickly updated him on the most pressing matters for that morning.  A nobleman asking for some resolve with a few of his vassals that was getting close to a riot.  Several merchants needing a solution on a supply route and who had what rights.  Another nobleman asking for marriage between his daughter and another lord's son to be dissolved on some right of honor.  And then there was a noblewoman hoping to clear up matters of inheritance that had not been handled properly.

 

More trivial matters that overshadowed the obvious problem.  The looming threat of war with King Ultra Magnus.

 

"There have been more reports of scouts being seen at our borders.  If King Magnus is preparing an invasion, we must improve our borders."

 

"But the security at our borders have been increased already.  Anymore and we risk being accused of amassing our forces."

 

"But if King Magnus is planning something-"

 

"He cannot collect his forces for invasion," Shockwave added, "His current treaty with King Bombrush prevents his army stepping foot on his territory.  If he were to do so without consultancy or provocation, King Bombrush would have to call his own banners.  An action that will violate the treaty he has with King Megatron."

 

"There is still the talk of King Magnus trying to amend the treaty.  Perhaps even dissolving the marriage between his daughter and Prince Bloodshed."

 

"A foolish endeavor," Shockwave retorted, "The marriage has already happened and from what our sources say, the Prince is making plans to prevent his newly-wedded wife from being taken back as well."

 

Megatron frowned over the talk as he sipped at his mulled wine.  Other than the news of young Bloodshed preparing to take leave with his little human wife to safer parts of his father's kingdom, there wasn't much news to talk about.  This was brought up every two to three days, but there was still little they could do other than beef up their defenses and see what happened next.

 

They had already been in talks with Bombrush.  His old friend had his back, but with his treaty to Ultra Magnus and the marriage pact that bound their kingdoms, he could not just sit by and play neutral.  Bombrush had already written a very scathing letter to him asking, in quote, just what the fuck was he thinking?

 

No doubt he would be expecting a visit from the other soon.  There would be no avoiding that.

 

"We should at least try to be involved if there are to be any changes-"

 

"Not until we know for certain.  For now, we should focus on our own matters-"

 

Now his councilors were getting back into talking about the mundane topics of his kingdom.  Sighing, Megatron took another sip and glance outside the council room to the courtyard.

 

At least there was something going on out there.  People were moving things around and all.  And there were people running and gossiping with each other.  Huh, someone must have let the horses out again.  Hopefully the worst of it this time was a giant with a sprained ankle rather than a dead horse.  Those were hard to get in the kingdom.

 

A knock suddenly caused the room to pause.  Those usually didn't occur unless something important happened.

 

One of the guards outside opened the door to show an older woman, one of the maids, looking rather worried.  That was odd, usually it was a scout or a captain, not a maid who'd interrupt these conversations.

 

"F-Forgive me... your highness, lords..."

 

"Is there something urgent of his majesty?" Shockwave asked.

 

"It's... I must... there's been... an incident."

 

Megatron arched an eyebrow at the old woman.  An incident?  What could possibly be so important that she would come to them instead of one of the stewards or even the usher himself?

 

Shockwave quickly excused himself to speak to the woman outside, the door closed behind him as he left to speak.

 

Rushed words were spoken.  No one spoke, but even then it was hard to hear what being said.

 

Then Shockwave's voice rose in tone.  Megatron nearly spilled his wine, but steadied his cup to try to listen in.  Shockwave never raised his voice.  He was the most stoic giant he had ever met.  It was why he made such a good advisor and, in Bombrush's words, a hell of a card player. 

 

The voices stopped as footsteps could be heard leaving.  Then the door slowly opened, Shockwave walking back in.

 

Except that his face looked quite pale.  Something that was rather off-putting for the giant.

 

"Shockwave, has something happened?" If there had been some kind of accident, then they would have to pay for the loss to the surviving kin-

 

"M-My King..."

 

Shockwave never stuttered.  "Shockwave, what in God's name is going on?"

 

"There's... been an accident.  A... bad one."

 

Shockwave wouldn't be getting all riled up like this over some accident in the stables.  Hell, unless Ultra Magnus was charging through the front gate, there was no way he would be worked up over someone... they didn't... know...

 

"Shockwave... what happened?"

 

"... Something happened-"

 

"Of course something happened!" His hand slammed down on the table as horrible thoughts went through his mind.  Had... Had Eclipse done something? Had she struck back at a maid?  Threatened one of them?  What, what could have happened to her? "I swear to God, if you don't tell what happened to her-"

 

"Princess Eclipse..." the name broke it, but that wasn't what made the advisor look even sicker to the stomach, "She... fell."

 

Megatron wasn't sure what had caused him to do so, but he quietly stood up from his seat.  "She... fell?"

 

"Y-Yes, my king."

 

"Fell?  She... tripped?"

 

"... The maids... found her this morning."

 

"What do you mean... found her?"

 

The advisor hesitated again, biting his lip. While he wanted to say this carefully, he also knew that keeping quiet for too long would simply make the man angry. And judging by the dark look on his face, Shockwave knew better than to remain silent.

 

"Princess Eclipse... attempted to escape last night." He watched as Megatron's eyes widened, but he said nothing, allowing the other to continue. "She apparently tied some sheets and cloth together to make a rope to climb out the window... And it seemed to have ripped while she was still climbing. The maids found her this morning outside on some haystacks... Unconscious." 

 

It was a miracle that King Megatron was still standing.  And that he had stayed on his own two feet for so long.  But before Shockwave could even ask anything of his king, the giant dashed out of his spot, getting past him before he could even react and out the door.

 

"Your Majesty, wait!"

 

Megatron was already gone.  Down the halls, up and down stairs, ignoring the calls of Shockwave and his guards before he found himself outside the infirmary.

 

He didn't even bother to knock.  He just stepped right in.

 

"K-King Megatron!" The servants and healers bowed, but his eyes were only focused on the young woman engulfed by the covers of the giant sized bed she was in.

 

Eclipse.  God, she looked so pale, so small, so thin.

 

"... Is she...?"

 

"She is doing fine for the moment, your majesty, but we fear she may have bruised some bones.  We haven't done a full examination, but it doesn't look like anything is broken."

 

But she wasn't awake.  She was just lying there, so devoid of the liveliness she always had on her whether in anger, joy, or sorrow.

 

"Has she opened her eyes?"

 

"...I'm afraid not, Your Majesty."

 

Megatron found himself uncaring of the people in the room.  The healers, servants, not even his guards and Shockwave who had joined them.

 

Slowly as if each step hurt, he made his way to her bed and kneeled down beside it.  Another long pause passed before his hand reached out and took her smaller one in it, being careful not to move it too much in case of something in her arm being out of place.

 

He didn't hear Shockwave ushering everyone out of the room.  He didn't even notice the stares and worried looks his vassals gave him.

 

But once the last giant had left and Shockwave had closed the door behind him did he finally do something.

 

His head hung as a small sob past through his clenched lips, holding her hand and hoping she would just wake up.

 

END


End file.
